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South Sydney NRL star Tom Burgess released from hospital after fears of neck injury in loss to Melbourne Storm

Melissa WoodsThe West Australian
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VideoMelbourne dominate Souths in NRL season opener

Tom Burgess has been released from a Melbourne hospital and will return home with his South Sydney teammates today after being cleared of serious injury.

Burgess had to be stretchered from the field late in the 26-18 season-opening loss to the Storm, and was taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays after teammate Benji Marshall landed on him in a tackle.

Burgess took to Instagram early on Friday morning to confirm there were no major concerns, with the Rabbitohs also confident the issue was just a burner.

“Hey guys, thanks for the messages of concern, I’m all good, CT scans have come back clear but have to keep this lovely thing (neck brace) on till the morning to rule out any serious nerve damage which can only be seen from an MRI scan,” he posted.

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“Could be a long night in Melbourne here but would rather be safe than sorry! How good the footy is back, eh.”

Working in Burgess’ favour is that the Rabbitohs have a nine-day turnaround until they face Manly at Lottoland next Saturday.

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VideoNRL: Cameron Munster scored the first try of the 2021 NRL season against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at AAMI Park.

Burgess’ injury soured an already tough night for the Rabbitohs, who were left chasing a 22-0 lead after just 29 minutes.

And while they fought back to get within six, Bennett described their first half as “awful” and said his team didn’t give themselves a chance, completing at 62 per cent and with 15 errors.

“I was pleased for 30 minutes and then we self-destructed again,” Bennett said.

“We had a chance to win and then did all the stupid things.

“We played for 30 minutes, and the other 50 we were just wasting our time.”

He said they needed to be able to go 80 minutes with the competition heavyweights if they had hopes of going further than last season’s preliminary-final defeat.

VideoNRL: Cody Walker played a delightful cut-out pass to help the South Sydney Rabbitohs stay in the contest against the Storm.

While Souths hadn’t won at AAMI Park in nine previous attempts, they came to Melbourne with high hopes after being a stand-out in the preseason.

“I know what the team is capable of, I’ve seen enough but we’ve got to get to these big games and do better than we do and that’s the challenge for us,” Bennett said.

Bennett said if there was any hype around his team, he was glad it was now gone.

“There could have been a bit of hype but there will be no hype around them now or for the next week or so which will be good,” he said.

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